This morning, Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee announced they will be boycotting the Oscars

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Let me be clear, I don't entirely agree with either of them

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Spike has tendency to undermine and under value women in his works

To often disasterous results 👀

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And Jada's message that "begging for acknowledgement undermines our power" misses the mark in a huge way

People of color cannot solve a problem we did not create on our own. She says that we should stop supporting mainstream, white led works and create our own rivaling production companies and empires. And while many of us are already in Hollywood working on it (🙋🏿), we will never be able to acheive the same level of wealth and in turn, influence that already exists in Hollywood on our own. Because we have no wealth??? BECAUSE OF SLAVERY???????

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But regardless of those issues, the idea of boycotting the Lily White Prom is so powerful

The reason people of color are so underrepresented is because our images, our influence, and somehow, our money, is undervalued. Hollywood/The Academy/The Man don't believe our issues are worth addressing. But wouldn't it be such a rude awakening if they woke up the morning after The Oscars and their ratings had cut in half? If people refused to stream their all white films on Amazon? If we erase the contents of their wallets just like they tried to erase the contents of our history? The shade!!

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So ListApp, I encourage you to ghost The Oscars just like you would ghost a regrettable Tinder encounter

As I mentioned before, People of Color are a powerful bunch. We can and have initiated change on our own. But it would be just that more powerful, just that more painful to them, if our white allies also joined us. I'm sure some of the work nominated this year is incredible (I wouldn't know, I stopped paying to see all white films years ago), but changing the way diversity is treated in this industry forever would be even more incredible. Join us!